Current Exhibitions

Neighbors in the Deep: the North Atlantic Right WhaleJanuary 28th, 2020 through June 7th, 2020The Warren and Marilyn Hollinshead Gallery

For hundreds of years, people have looked to the waters around the Island for the North Atlantic right whale: to hunt them, to see them, and now, to save them. This exhibit looks at these giant creatures and our complex relationship with them.

This exhibition delves into the transformation of women’s visual arts from the domestic to the public sphere. Using works primarily from the Martha’s Vineyard Museum’s permanent collection, we will explore the fine textile work made by women for themselves and their families in the 1700s and 1800s, practical works made for sale in the 1800s and 1900s, and pieces created in the 1900s by women working as professional artists. Some of the names are familiar, such as Lois Mailou Jones, Laura Jernegan Spear, Rose Treat, and Edna Reindel, and some are known only from a hand-stitched signature or family memory.

Emma Chambers Maitland embodied an experience both unique and somehow emblematic of the challenges and successes of many black women of her era – teacher, wife, mother, entertainer, sportswoman, nurse – her intelligence, ambition, and talents took her from Virginia to Washington, D. C., Paris, New York, and finally to Martha’s Vineyard. This exhibit, featuring photographs and memorabilia from her life will give a glimpse into her journey.